Survivor's Sarah Says Her Elimination Was "A Complete Shock"

Tribal Council on Wednesday's Survivor: Cagayan will likely go down as one of the craziest in the show's history (two immunity idols and a blindside!) But was Kass McQuillen's jaw-dropping decision to flip on her six-person alliance during Wednesday's Survivor ...

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By TV Guide

The State Journal-Register

By TV Guide

Posted Apr. 3, 2014 at 12:01 AM
Updated Apr 3, 2014 at 5:53 PM

By TV Guide

Posted Apr. 3, 2014 at 12:01 AM
Updated Apr 3, 2014 at 5:53 PM

Tribal Council on Wednesday's Survivor: Cagayanwill likely go down as one of the craziest in the show's history (two immunity idols and a blindside!) But was Kass McQuillen's jaw-dropping decision to flip on her six-person alliance during Wednesday's Survivor a brilliant move that will bring her to the end of the game, or one that will end up coming back to haunt her?

According to Sarah Lacina, who found herself the casualty of Kass' bold decision, it's the latter. "We all had discussed that you ruin all your chances at winning the game if you flip," Sarah tells TVGuide.com. "My honest opinion on why she flipped is [that] she just wanted to create controversy. That was almost number one in her book, and then winning the game was number two."

Check out our full interview with Sarah to find out just how shocked she was about getting voted out, as well as her thoughts on the Blue Bloods alliance she formed with Tony. Plus: Why was Woo allowed to wear shoes during the challenge?

What was your reaction to getting voted out? Did you see that coming at all? Sarah: I wasn't completely shocked that my name was written down ... but I definitely was not worried. Sitting there, it seemed like it took forever for Jeff [Probst] to read the votes. I'm like, OK, we all get it, Jefra's going home. Just get it over with. And when my name comes up that last time ... I actually sat there for a minute and I'm kind of trying to figure it out. Like, that's wrong. It can't be right. We have six. They have five. There's a mistake. But then I remembered having to tell myself, you have to get up because you have to get your torch. You can't just sit here all night.

Your tribe mates seemed pretty stunned as well. Sarah: My whole tribe was sitting there like, what the heck's going on? There was some talking going on. And I think I had heard someone say "flip" and then that's when it put it in my head. That's how in shock I was. I couldn't even figure out what happened. Clearly someone flipped. So, when I walked past I said, "Who flipped?" And everyone's like, "Not me, not me, not me." And Tasha's like, "Kass." And then I was just shocked because she had harped on me so bad. If anyone harped on me about flipping, it was her. I had to listen to her for three days say, 'I don't trust you.' I mean, she was saying it to my face. It's like, you are not tactical about this at all. So yeah, it was a complete shock.

Page 2 of 4 - So, why do you think Kass flipped? Sarah: Honestly, I think it had nothing to do with strategy. We had discussed, look, if you flip, yeah, you'll make it down to the final three, because you're the perfect person to sit next to because you're not going to get five votes. We all had discussed that you ruin all your chances at winning the game if you flip. And I wasn't there to get second or third place and sit in the final three. I was there to win the game. So, at some point I could have flipped, but that vote I definitely had to stick with my tribe. We all had to. So, my honest opinion on why she flipped is, she just wanted to create controversy and that was almost No. 1 in her book, and then winning the game was No. 2 in her book. That's my honest opinion.

You went from a position of power to getting blindsided in the course of the episode. Do you wish that you would have done anything differently? Sarah: Yeah, I should have played more of a double agent. I didn't play a double agent at all. I wanted to, but my whole tribe had kind of said ... they were worried about me flipping. Spencer and I were very close and Spencer said to me, "I don't want you to play the double agent. It's going to make me feel uneasy. It's going to make other people feel uneasy. Please don't do that."

It was awesome to get to play and I'd want to play again. I felt like my game was cut so short and that I had so much left that I wanted to do, and ideas and strategies and people I wanted to work with. I wish I would have had the opportunity to dive into that. I'll take blame for going out. Also, I think the Survivor luck really wasn't shining down on me, from the Tribe swap and so on. I think my game would have been completely different if someone else would have been put in my position and I could have stayed with the Brawns. Absolutely. But unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

Do you think there was a turning point in last night's episode where you became the target? Sarah: The turning point would be, Tony and Trish and those guys were all about getting me on board, and I didn't want them to find out that I was against them. Because I knew at that point I would be a target, once they knew I was not going to flip. So I tried to prolong that as long as I could. And in fact - it's not really portrayed, but I prolonged that to about an hour before Tribal Council. And then at that point it was scramble mode, and Trish goes straight to Kass. And it didn't take much to get her to flip.

Page 3 of 4 - So you never considered flipping? Sarah: At that point in time, I couldn't flip. My hands were tied. Because again, the six of us had decided, if you flip, you're not getting five jury votes, period. That's the way it's going to happen. And I wanted to win the game. I didn't want second or third. I wanted to win. So, for that specific Tribal Council and vote, there was no flipping that could be done. After that, yeah. I think there's wiggle room where you could make up something else. But all eyes were on me, and at one point it looked like the best position in the game. But ultimately, it's actually the worst position in the game, because no matter which side you go with, you're going to make five people mad.

Why were you so intent on voting for Tony and L.J.? Sarah: I definitely think once you hit the merge, it's no longer time to pick off the weaker perceived players. You need to start taking out big threats, take them out while we can. I felt that Tony and L.J. and Woo caused the bigger threat, especially in winning immunity or actually finding an idol. Tony was always out there looking for something, and L.J.'s smart enough too. So, yeah, I thought that we needed to take a big threat out because it'd just be more dangerous to keep them in the game. And I felt that if anyone was going to find a crack in our alliance, it was going to be Tony.

Watching Tony's confessionals now, are you surprised at the way he's playing the game? Do you regret forming an alliance with him? Sarah: Before the game even started, I didn't want anything to do with him, because I just could tell by the vibe I was getting from him that he wasn't someone that I wanted to work with. And that changed once we were on the same tribe. It turned into a keep your friends close, enemies closer type deal. Surprised that he was saying the stuff that he said? Yes. But ultimately, no.

This is a little off-topic, but why was Woo allowed to wear shoes during the challenge? Sarah: We were all given the option to wear shoes, and Woo had those FiveFingers or whatever they're called, and all of us had tennis shoes. So Woo decided to wear shoes. We all decided not to.

Ah, OK. So, who do you think is the biggest threat in the game going forward? Sarah: Honestly, after watching the episode, I would say Trish. I did not give her enough credit out there of how well of a game she's playing. And I would say she has made not just one big move, but the two bigger moves in the game. I definitely did not see that from her. If she keeps this up, she is a force to be reckoned with.

Page 4 of 4 - What do you think? Did Kass make the right move? Were you as surprised as Sarah about her blindside? Weigh in below!